Aphrodite of Cnidus
A marble sculpture by Praxiteles created around 350 BCE, celebrated as the first life-sized female nude in Greek art and one of the most copied statues of antiquity
The Meaning of Aphrodite of Cnidus
The Aphrodite of Cnidus was carved by the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles around 350 BCE and became the most famous statue in the ancient world. It was the first monumental female nude in Greek art — earlier tradition had reserved nudity for male figures. According to Pliny, Praxiteles carved two versions of Aphrodite: one draped, which was purchased by the city of Kos, and one nude, which Kos rejected as too shocking. The city of Cnidus in Asia Minor bought the nude version and placed it in an open circular temple where it could be viewed from all sides. The statue depicted Aphrodite having just removed her garment, which she drapes over a water jar, as she prepares to bathe. Visitors travelled from across the Mediterranean to see the work, and it generated enormous revenue for Cnidus. The original is lost, but its composition is known from over a hundred Roman copies, coins, and literary descriptions. The work permanently changed the representation of the female body in Western art and established a type — the modest Venus — that persisted through the Renaissance and beyond.
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None recorded
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Fun Fact
The statue was so famous in antiquity that King Nicomedes of Bithynia offered to pay off the entire public debt of Cnidus in exchange for it
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